| abstract |
The present invention relates to a polypeptide or fragment thereof comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 of hepatitis E virus ORF2 in the form of an n-polymeric polypeptide, where N is an integer from 2 to 180. The invention also relates to a polypeptide of the invention, or an immunogenic fragment thereof, linked to a chimeric polypeptide of said fragment fused to a conservative fragment of influenza virus hemagglutinin, and a polypeptide containing an epitope from hepatitis E virus ORF3, And an expression vector containing a DNA molecule encoding said polypeptide, and a host cell transformed with said recombinant expression vector capable of expressing a polypeptide of the invention. The present invention also provides a kit comprising the polypeptide of HEV for diagnosing infection with a vaccine composition and HEV, and a diagnostic kit comprising IgG, IgM and total antibodies, and for the prevention, diagnosis and / or treatment of HEV infection. Its use is also provided. |